Champion Rules

Chapter 12012: Can He Beat Darko Milicic? (Please Read!)
Before 1995, NBA teams wouldn't pay attention to a young player in his teens.

When the Seattle SuperSonics drafted Kemp in 1989, they had nothing but poor-quality videotapes of Kemp facing lesser opponents.

There were no comprehensive scouting reports, no background information, no in-depth research.

It is basically equivalent to opening a blind box.

Because the teams at that time preferred players in their early twenties with many years of NCAA competition experience.

A teenage prodigy? No matter how talented they are, they are still just kids, and their opponents are just a bunch of kids. Against a bunch of kids, no matter how good their performance is, it doesn't mean anything.

Once these young kids are thrown into the professional league, they will be nothing.

But the emergence of Kevin Garnett in 1995 completely changed everything.

His sudden emergence made teams in the league realize that college players might not be the only option.

If we find a child with extraordinary talent, why not select him and train him ourselves in advance?

Later, the emergence of players such as Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady made the NBA pay more attention to young players.

Scouts from professional teams began to frequently appear at high school games and compete with college scouts for players. People like Sonny Cavallo, who tried to get a piece of the NCAA pie, even founded the famous ABCD training camp, providing a perfect stage for teenage players.

The NBA has completely opened its arms to high school students, and skipping college and bringing their talents to the NBA has gradually become a trend.

To date, LeBron James' popularity across the United States has brought the atmosphere of younger draft picks to a climax.

This trend has also spread overseas.

Previously, the NBA only favored mature players who had already performed well in top overseas leagues.

But now, young talents like Darko Milicic are also beginning to enter the NBA's vision.

Lakers overseas scout Antonio Marcellas came to Europe with the purpose of "discovering more young overseas talents."

And when he saw Lynch completely kill Luka Bogdanovic, he thought he could go back and report.

He found the person he was looking for.

The day after the match between Red Star and FMP, Antonio Marcellas flew back to Los Angeles.

Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers, who have just established a dynasty, are not at peace.

Shaquille O'Neal was worried about his contract. Although he had just ushered in a new era for the Lakers, a toe injury and a rapidly rising star cast a shadow over Shaq's future.

Kobe was spying on the Shark's position, and let's see what Kobe did during the Shark's absence. On November 8, 2002, against the Boston Celtics, Kobe scored 41 points, but took 47 shots, 30 of which missed the basket, setting an ignominious record.

The truth behind all this is: Kobe wants to replace Shark so much. He has been waiting for that day for a long time. Now he just wants to kill as much as he can, even if it means taking crazy shots.

In addition, the Lakers' role players are old, and they can't defend fast breaks or shoot three-pointers.

All of this indicates one thing - the Lakers have long been divided and disintegration is inevitable.

So, although the Lakers are still a championship-contending team on the surface, the Buss family has never given up preparing for reconstruction.

Whether it's the Shark or the Viper who ultimately remains on the Los Angeles throne, they'll need help.

The best way to get help is through the draft.

After all, you can't expect the Dallas Mavericks to approach the Lakers to trade for Luka Dončić more than 20 years from now.

As a key part of the reconstruction plan, Antonio Marcellas must rush back to bring back the news he has in Europe.

Look at Tony Parker, look at Manu Ginobili, there are too many treasures in Europe that can be found with low draft picks.

The Lakers can't miss any possible options.

After the long journey, Marcellus didn't even have time to go home to sleep, but rushed directly to Mitch Kupchak's office.

When I went in, Mitch Kupchak was on the phone.

"That's impossible. You know I can't trade Shaquille O'Neal. Even if a goddess has her period for two days, she's still a goddess. Shaq is just tired recently, which has slightly affected his condition, but he is still the most dominant center in the league. You know that (trading Shaq) is impossible!"

After he finished the call, Marcellus took out the brown paper bag containing the information, but instead of handing it directly to Kupchak, he asked a question.

"Mitch, I know you're busy, so let's cut to the chase. Have you heard of Luka Bogdanovic?"

"Of course, Europe's golden boy, the new darling of the Nike Summit," Kupchak twirled a Montblanc pen. "I heard his jump shot is so beautiful it would make Dirk cry. He's a Peja who can pass and control the ball. He's a guaranteed All-Star. I've heard so much about him."

Mitch Kupchak thought Marcellas had brought information on Luka Bogdanovic, but Marcellas changed the subject: "Yes, he's well-known, but he got locked up in a youth team game."

After saying that, Marcellus just stared at Kupchak, neither speaking nor moving.

Kupchak was stunned for a few seconds, then spread his hands in confusion. "And then? Are you waiting for the Los Angeles Times reporter to snap the shutter?"

"Ask me! Ask me who did it!" Marcellus suddenly slammed the table excitedly, scaring away the pigeons on the windowsill outside the office.

Kupchak:
Isn't that a long story short?!

That's why he doesn't like Antonio Marcellas, this idiot has good business skills but the way he speaks is simply idiotic.

If he wasn't the second-highest-ranked overseas scout in the league after Ivanka Dukan (Bulls scouting director), and if international players weren't starting to shine in the NBA, Kupchak would have fired this idiot long ago.

There was no way, Kupchak could only play this boring game with him.

"Okay, so who's guarding our little Peja?" "Lynch, a Chinese player from the FMP youth team. His talent is unparalleled. Everyone in the world with his athletic ability is already playing in the NBA. He has the chance to become Scottie Pippen, Scottie Pippen with Shawn Kemp's athleticism!"

After saying that, Marcellus stared at Kupchak again and stopped talking.

"and then?"

"Ask me, ask me how old this child is now!"

Kupchak covered his forehead and said, "Okay, okay, how old is this kid?"

"He's not even 17 yet! Imagine, your wife's yoga instructor could be your mom, and this kid can already keep European prodigies at bay, forcing them to go home and look for a pacifier! Luka Bogdanovic is already playing for the senior team, and he's doing well, but our Chinese prodigy locked him down! He held him to just 8 points, and was shut out in the second half!"

"So this is his information in your hand?"

"Yes."

Finally, after so many boring rounds of quiz games, Mitch Kupchak took the brown paper bag from Marcellus.

That page of Lynch's basic information made Kupchak believe that the statement "he can become the next Scott Pippen" was not a castle in the air.

With Lynch's static talent, he does have a chance. But in terms of the length that can be used on the basketball court, he has almost reached Scott's level.

And he is not even 17 years old yet, maybe he can grow even taller.

In addition, Marcellus used the word "incredible" many times in the scouting report to describe his athletic ability and defensive acumen.

Although the offensive technique was simple and crude, Marcellas also described the timing of the cut as "incredible".

This report gave Mitch Kupchak a rough idea of ​​Lynch.

First of all, he is an athlete with a body that was born to play basketball.

Thanks to the European youth training system, he has excellent basketball IQ, but his skills cannot keep up with his basketball IQ for the time being.

So, he's not just a rough guy. Even without the ball, his smart cuts can threaten the basket and contribute offensively. Defensively, he's already able to punish everyone at will.

Of course, his unparalleled rebounding ability is valuable. Despite being less than 206 cm tall, he can easily outrebound a group of big white bears over 210 cm tall.

This is a tough, frontcourt player that any team would love to have (which is true considering this era doesn't value shooting).

Mitch Kupchak is very interested in Lynch, but now he has just one problem.

"This guy... can he beat Darko Milicic? They're both in Serbia, right?"

"Unfortunately, they have never played against each other." Marcellus spread his hands, then stared at Kupchak with a smile, as if to say: "Ask me if they will play against each other recently."

"Well, damn, are they having a game lately!?"

"Yes, next month. Do you need me to come back?"

"Leave tomorrow."

"So urgent? The competition doesn't start until next month."

"I don't just want you to watch this one game. I want you to follow his training, find out his family background, his personality, I need to know everything about him. If he is as good as you say, then we can't miss him in the summer of 2004."

Of course, Kupchak didn't say the most important reason why he was in a hurry to let him go: I don't want to see you, a fool, in Los Angeles!
"Okay Mitch, you know, I'm willing to sacrifice for Laker Nation."

"Very good, go find someone in the finance department to get your funds. I'll call them."

After Marcellus left the office, Mitch Kupchak put Lynch's information in the drawer.

Will this information be released again? That depends on whether Lynch can deal with Darko Milicic.

As for Lynch, that's all Kupchak cares about right now.
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Lynch and Theo teamed up to take out Luka Bogdanovic, making them household basketball icons throughout Serbia.

Now the question on everyone's lips is: when will they appear in a first-team match?

Lynch and Theo knew that they were only one goal away from making the first team.

As their fame grew, the names of Lynch and Teodosic also reached the ears of Darko Milicic.

This young champion, who became famous in Serbia at the age of 14 and is now almost certain to be in the top five of this year's draft in the United States, is different from everyone before him.

Whether it's Alexander Gajic, Blagotta Sekulic or Luka Bogdanovic, they just play quietly.

They were rivals of Lynch and Theo, but never had any personal grudges against each other.

But Dako, the genius who thinks he is already a world-class superstar, obviously has a completely different mentality.

When reporters asked him what he thought of Lynch and Theo, Darko Milicic threw his platinum hair back, the diamond earrings on his earlobes reflected a cold light, and he had a rebellious smile on his face.

"I'm just curious, does their coach have to watch Nickelodeon in the locker room with his two best players?"

This is a sarcastic remark without any curse words.

In a few months, Darko Milicic will go to the NBA to get a million-dollar annual contract, and he knows he can do it.

So he was full of disdain for everything about Serbia.

He didn't care about the basketball or the people here.

(Please vote and read on, thank you!)
(End of this chapter)